urn:taro:hamtmc.00070p1Guide to the R. Lee Clark PapersManuscript Collection No. 70 Part 1: Series I-IIIFinding aid prepared by Pam Cornell. Revised by Sandra Yates, 2016Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center Library, John P. McGovern Historical Collections and Research Center, November 19, 20071133 John Freeman Blvd. Houston, Texas 77030Finding aid encoded by M.J. Figard on
November 19, 2007
Overview of the Collection
Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center Library, John P. McGovern Historical Collections and Research Center1133 John Freeman Blvd.Houston, Texas 77030Randolph Lee ClarkR. Lee Clark Papers1929-1985838 boxes, 7 oversize items, 451.5 linear feetThe R. Lee Clark manuscript collection consists of Dr. Clark’s papers, both personal and professional, collected over a 30-year period. Much of the collection centers around University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, where Dr. Clark was Director and Chief of Staff, President, and finally President Emeritus. There is an historical series within the collection relating to the formation of the early M.D. Anderson Hospital and the Texas Medical Center. The collection includes information on other cancer institutes and organizations, both national and international.MS 70The records are in English.
Biographical Note

Randolph Lee Clark was born July 2, 1906 to Randolph Lee Clark, Sr., teacher and president of several Texas colleges including Texas Christian University, and Leni Leoti Sypert, musician and teacher. As the son and grandson of college presidents, he lived with role models whose optimistic outlook and ideals nurtured his untiring ability to work toward the goal of containing and possibly curing cancer. After his father’s death, he preferred to be known as R. Lee Clark.

Dr. Clark’s early medical career as Chief Resident at the American Hospital in Paris and as a Fellow at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota laid the foundation for concepts that became the cornerstone of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. His military service enabled him to meet surgeons and physicians from throughout the United States and to exchange ideas and plans for postwar institutions. He was appointed Director of Surgical Research for the U.S. Army (Air) Medical Corps as well as Consultant to the Air Surgeon General. Clark’s successes were recognized by the Regents of the University of Texas and in 1946 he was asked to develop what would become the nation’s first cancer hospital within a university system.

In Houston, he started work with 22 employees in the house and stables cum carriage-house of a donated family estate. The stables housed research laboratories for biochemistry and biology. Dr. Clark located surplus Army barracks, had them moved to the estate grounds, and converted them to a clinic. During this time, employees, including some ex-military associates, were recruited to expand M.D. Anderson Hospital. A story then circulating told of one employee asking another if he had noticed how ‘vague’ Dr. Clark was when discussing salaries, benefits, laboratory space, and other necessities. The second employee replied, “Oh, no, ‘vague’ is much too precise a word.”

Lee Clark had vision, energy, and the ability to inspire the generosity of major businessmen in Houston and citizens throughout Texas. The M.D. Anderson Foundation was also a benefactor. At that time, the Texas Medical Center was expanding and M.D. Anderson Hospital became one of its cornerstones. Dr. Clark collaborated with city, state, and eventually national and international leaders in medicine whose intent was to consider the problem of “incurable” cancer patients and to find a solution.

Clark married Bertha Margaret Davis, MD, an anesthesiologist from Asheville, North Carolina, on June 11, 1932. They had two children, Randolph Lee and Rabia Lynn. Lee Clark died May 3, 1994.

Lee Clark’s personal papers, Series I, contain financial documents, family correspondence from relatives throughout Texas, lists of purchases including various cars, information on houses and repairs, ideas for his ranch and considerations about other land purchases.

Lee Clark received his M.D. from the Medical School of Virginia. He served as Chief Resident at the American Hospital in Paris, France and was a Fellow at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Before coming to M.D. Anderson, Dr. Clark was Director of Surgical Research within the United States Air Force at Randolph Field, San Antonio, Texas. Drafts of Clark’s Surgical History of the Army Air Forces are located in Series II.

Dr. R. Lee Clark collected papers from many sources, envisioning the historical importance, not only of his personal papers, but of items related to University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, the Texas Medical Center, various University of Texas medical schools, and many national and international cancer organizations. A series of historical papers, in addition to folders labeled “Inactive”, “to 1956”, or “to 1959”, provide witness to the early growth of M.D. Anderson Hospital and Houston’s medical community. Dr. Clark also kept the minutes of many meetings of the University of Texas Board of Regents, as he was dependent on funding from the state to furnish resources necessary for M.D. Anderson Hospital. Newspaper clippings document Clark’s leadership at M.D. Anderson and the growth of cancer treatment and care, both within the state of Texas and throughout the world. He was Directing Medical Editor of the Medical Arts Publishing Foundation that published The Heart Bulletin, The Cancer Bulletin, The Psychiatric Bulletin, and Medical Record and Annals, as well as co-editor of The Book of Health and The Year Book of Cancer.

Dr. Clark held positions of authority in a number of national and international organizations. Correspondence and meeting minutes show that he was a dynamic force in the formation of several branches of the Union International Contre le Cancer, notably the Committee for International Collaborative Activities and the Association of American Cancer Institutes. UICC was a world-wide effort to more successfully track and treat the causes of cancer. The American Cancer Society also benefited from Clark’s vision and energy, as did the Cancer Committee of the American College of Surgeons. Meeting minutes from several committees document activities within those organizations. He served on the boards of directors of the Damon Runyon/Walter Winchell and Hogg Foundations. After retirement from M.D. Anderson, he served as a consultant for Robert Douglass Associates, assisting with site visits and forward planning for cancer hospitals.

Photographs of M.D. Anderson Hospital buildings, colleagues, and many organizational meetings are held in Series XIII, as well as in other parts of the collection.

Memorabilia and realia, as well as a series on professional travel, attest to the scope of Dr. Clark’s career.

Arrangement

The Clark papers were received in mixed order. Dr. Clark’s office relocated several times and the resulting order, in each instance, was rearranged by the receiving personnel. After Dr. Clark’s retirement, the papers were stored in several different locations. In most cases, the order remains mixed, as it was received by the Historical Research Center. Artificial order has been imposed in some instances. Titles of folders were handled similarly. Some folders have original titles and other folders have titles assigned, appropriate to the content. The contents were cleaned and rehoused in archivally stable folders and placed, for the most part, in half-sized cubic foot boxes. Oversized archival boxes contain large photographs, plaques, diplomas, and certificates.

Other papers of importance appeared within the Clark collection and these were moved to appropriate locations:
Bertner documents were moved to Bertner Papers MS002Elliot documents were moved to Elliot Papers MS071Copeland documents were moved to Copeland Papers MS114

Clark books were relocated as follows:
Older books withdrawn from Clark collection were moved to the Rare Book Room of the McGovern Collections at HAM-TMC Library. Newer books were withdrawn from the Clark collection and moved to the HAM-TMC Library bookstacks.

This collection was donated by R. Lee Clark, MD to the HAM-TMC Library by Deed of Gift, Dec. 13, 1987.

Processing Information

The first part of the collection was received in 1988. The papers were stored in several locations, as well as rearranged by several administrative assistants at different times, accounting for the mixed order of the final collection. Parts of the collection were received at different times during 1988-89. Processing completed 2005.

There was a revision to the arrangement in 2015. Some items were consolidated and relocated into special designated sections of the archive, such as framed objects, audiovisual materials, and oversize. As a result, some box numbers have been removed completely from some series. Two phonograph records of Dr. Bertner speaking were transferred from Series X to MS 002 E. W. Bertner papers.

Restrictions on Access

Materials in this collection do not circulate. Some documents may be restricted for patient confidentiality.
Please contact Associate Director or Archivist for further information:
mcgovern@library.tmc.edu

Clark's personal papers contain financial documents including those of Bertha Davis Clark, family correspondence from relatives throughout Texas, lists of purchases including various cars, information on houses and repairs, ideas for his ranch and considerations about other land purchases.

Series II consists of Dr. Clark's university studies, military publications and exhibits, and some early M.D. Anderson information. This series also includes oversized materials and an 8mm film regarding projectile studies.

This series follows R. Lee Clark from his assumption of duties at M.D. Anderson hospital through his retirement. He was selected for the President's Commission on Cancer, The National Cancer Institute, and also testified on cancer treatment before the United States Senate. He served on the boards of the Damon Runyon/Walter Winchell and Mike Hogg Foundations.